Chicago Meat Packing

by Rena

Enter the immense yards [in 1898] beneath the plain, massive arch that bears the inscription, “Union Stock Yards, Chartered 1865” and you will readily grasp the meaning and value of the system. It is a region of order and death, but a sight that will stir the most casual onlooker or the deepest philosopher. It is a city in itself–a city of pens and factories, immense and noisy. Wherever the eye wanders, the most intense activity prevails….In 1865 there were 330,301 cattle received and shipped live, and 27,172 cattle and 507,355 hogs packed. — The Chicago Packing Industry